Known in art is a device for growing plants, comprising a container accommodating layers of an organomineral root medium and a fine-grained water-permeable material, separated by a perforated partition, and a reservoir containing a nutrient solution, communicating with the container (cf. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 988,241, Int.Cl. A01G 31/00).
However, the aforementioned device fails to provide an efficient use of the nutritive salts contained in the nutrient solution, since the holes in the perforated partition can get clogged with the plants' roots, root discharges and salt deposits, which results in disturbed water-salt metabolism and aeration of the plants.
A prior-art installation for soil-free growing of plants in a waterproof container is known to comprise a network carrying a matting material for the plant roots, a device for feeding plant roots with a nutrient solution, and a means for mist formation, communicating with the container (cf. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 897,175, Int.Cl. A01G 31/02, 1982).
A disadvantage inherent in said installation resides in its restricted technological capabilities, since it is applicable for plant growing under stationary conditions only.
Another prior-art device for growing plants is known to comprise a hermetically sealed chamber, accommodating a perforated band mounted on a driven drum, respective systems for feeding nutrient solution and working agent to the chamber, and a perforated band cleaning element (cf. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 969,211, Int.Cl. A01G 31/02, 1981).
The aforementioned device suffers from low productivity and restricted technological capabilities, since it is applicable under stationary conditions only. Besides, planting and harvesting are carried out manually, which substantially affects the productivity of the device. The plant growing area is constant, which renders the device inapplicable for use in various media and does not allow the planting area in the chamber to be changed whenever necessary.